Oh boy oh boy oh boy! I have to say that out of all the lenses I own, Some of my Tak's are the best feeling, most smooth focusing lenses I have ever laid my hands on. My 55/1.8 and 50/1.4 are literally a benchmark for how a helicoid should feel. Not to mention just about all of them are great optically, and there are MANY bargains to be had. I will get right on producing some contributions for this thread... and I can't wait to see what everyone else does!

P.S. Mawz that 35/3.5 is a little gem for the performance you get for so very little coin...

ExtendedPuppet wrote:
That first 35mm shot is awesome.
Do they make adapters for that lens to fit a Nikon D700?

They do... and it can be had for very little coin. The rear element protrudes a bit, I don't believe this would be an issue for the D700 but I am not sure. At any rate, the lens is sharp wide open and very good stopped-down. I think the whole m42 Pentax line is just wonderful. My 2 pennies...

EDIT: I suppose I stand corrected. I thought there was a way to use them but it appears I should do more research. I saw a M42/NF adapter at the local camera shop. Guess that it was one of the ones that can't do infinity. Shame...

ExtendedPuppet wrote:
That first 35mm shot is awesome.
Do they make adapters for that lens to fit a Nikon D700?

Adapters for M42 to Nikon require either optics (costs lens speed, optical quality and increases focal length) or loss of infinity. Mount conversion is possible but may have mirror issues, particularly the 35/3.5

Super 55/1.8. Can't exactly remember. I think it was 2.0 or 2.8
Found the little guy in a junk corner for 100 yen. Perfectly clear glas and internals. Only filter thread was loose and wobbly - 1 sec fix, really....

Thanks all. Yes, I had it on a Sony A900. AhamB, you have good eyes.
By the way, wide open my super takumar 20/4.5 is much better sharpness wise than the SMC.
All in all, the takumars are a solid line.

They're all a joy to shoot with! Admittedly, I don't use my 35mm enough due to the slower f stop making focussing a bit harder in darker environments. I just got the 150 recently and haven't tried it yet. The 105 is not as sharp as my Nikkor 105 wide open, but after that, it's a tie, with the Tak having a far nicer bokeh.

Here's one shot with the famous 85.. I'm pretty sure this was wide open:
(It's actually far too sharp for portraits)